The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Video game designers get £5,000 boost after competition win
Student team Inner Circle Games has been crowned champion of Abertay University’s 2019 Dare Academy game design competition.
A panel of industry judges ran the rule over six finalists at EGX in London, the UK’S biggest video games expo.
Spellcasters, a retro style rhythm-based combat game, was unveiled as the winner.
It also took home the Player’s Player Award, voted for by this year’s Dare participants.
Inner Circle Games will now continue to develop their game, boosted by a cash prize of £5,000.
Dare Academy is an annual competition in which Abertay students develop and refine game prototypes over a summer “hot-housing” period with regular input and advice from industry mentors.
Rosie Ball, brand designer for independent games developer and publisher Chucklefish, said: “I’m very pleased for Inner Circle Games.
“Spellcasters is a unique, creative idea that is tremendous fun to play.
“I want to wish all six teams luck in taking their games forward. The entries were all of an incredible standard and it wasn’t at all easy to decide on a winner.”
Andrew Murdoch of Inner Circle Games said: “We’re absolutely delighted – we honestly can’t believe that we’ve won.
“It’s been a lot of work for the teams to get to this stage, and it’s been an honour to showcase our game at an event as wellknown as EGX.
“I’d like to thank the sponsors and mentors for their support throughout this process.
“It’s been a brilliant experience.”